A plain-clothes police officer jumped up and grabbed the drone after being notified that there was one flying around by staff at the prison on August 14 last year.

He was part of Operation Airborne, which is aimed at fighting the smuggling of contraband into Pentonville by drone.

The officer with the bag and drone

The drone flown by Adifyi was carrying a black plastic bag which contained 118 grams of cannabis, two mobile phones and 71.7 grams of psychoactive substance.

Adifyi was not caught at the time but was later identified after a DNA search. A raid on his home discovered 476g of psychoactive substance, with a prison value of almost £40,000.

Jailed: Charlie Adifyi

He pleaded guilty to breaking three sections of the Prisons Act and possession with intent to supply psychoactive substance.

Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah, said: “I am determined to stem the flow of drugs into our prisons, and I want to pay tribute to the staff at HMP Pentonville and police for preventing this haul from entering the prison system and undermining the stability and order at the jail.”